No.  358 


THE 

Business  Side  of  Missions 
IN  China 

BY  SAMUEL  E.  SMALLEY 


THE  DOMESTIC  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY  OF  THE 
PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York 


THE  ADMINISTRATION  BUILDING  OF  THE  CHINA  MISSION  IN  SHANGHAI 

Mt,  and  Mrs.  Smalley  live  in  the  building.  Beside  tlieiv  apavtments  and  the  offices  it 
contains  rooms  where  missio’naries  passing  through  Shanghai^  on  their 
way  to  or  from  their  stations,  can  be  accommodated 


THE  BUSINESS  SIDE  OF  MISSIONS 
IN  CHINA 

BY  SAMUEL  E.  SMALLEY 


IF  the  average  business  man  were 
asked,  “What  is  the  business  of  a 
missionary?”  he  would  most  prob- 
ably reply,  “Preaching  to  the 
heathen.”  The  reply  so  far  as  it  goes  is 
correct,  entirely  correct  of  the  mission- 
ary of  a quarter  of  a century  ago. 
Nowadays,  it  would  be  impossible  for 
one  man  to  perform  the  many  duties 
mission  work  calls  for.  This  is  the  age 
of  the  specialist  and  the  up-to-date  mis- 
sionary must  be  a specialist — a special- 
ist in  preaching  or  teaching  or  healing. 

The  missionary  before  he  can  become 
a preacher  on  the  street  or  in  the  chapel 
must  spend  years  in  studying  the  lan- 
guage, so  that  he  may  be  understood  by 
the  people.  The  missionary  clergyman 
must  also  be  a specialist  in  training  the 
native  candidates  for  ordination — this  is 
one  of  the  most  important  branches  of 
his  work.  Indeed,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  this  is  the  most  important  branch 
of  the  missionary’s  work,  for  if  Chris- 
tianity is  to  be  spread  throughout  this 
huge  empire  it  wdll  have  to  be  done  by 
the  native  clergy  and  catechists. 

The  medical  missionary  has  also  to  be 
a specialist.  The  days  have  passed  wdien 
the  general  practitioner,  half  medico, 
half  cleric,  sufficed.  Our  mission  hos- 
pitals now  require  lot  only  the  best 
physicians  and  surgeons,  but  oculists, 
aurists  and  other  specialists.  The  prin- 
cipal mission  hospital  has  now  to  be  an 
institution  simihr  to  a home  hospital 
with  its  staff  Oi  resident  and  visiting 
doctors,  .its  nurses,  its  students  and  its 
medical  school. 

The  missionary  teacher,  too,  must  be 
a specialist.  For  now  we  have  our  mis- 
sionary universities  and  colleges,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  boarding-schools  and  day- 
schools  of  former  times.  He  has  not 
now  merely  to  teach  the  three  “K’s.”  He 
has  to  lecture  on  all  kinds  of  subjects. 


He  must  know  his  subject  well,  for  no 
one  is  more  keen  than  the  Chinese  stu- 
dent in  detecting  the  teacher  who  is 
only  half  qualified  or  who  is  endeavoring 
to  pose  as  a master  of  an  art  in  which 
he  is  not  thoroughly  proficient. 

Where  the  Business  Manager 
Gomes  In 

These,  then,  are  some  of  the  duties 
required  of  the  missionary  of  to-day.  In 
order  to  enable  the  missionary  to  attend 
to  these  duties,  to  give  his  undivided  at- 
tention to  them,  the  bookkeeper,  the 
business  manager  becomes  a necessary 
factor  in  the  Church’s  mission  work  in 
the  field.  The  Board  of  Missions  recog- 
nized this  some  years  ago  and  appointed 
a layman  to  be  treasurer  of  the  missions 
in  China.  So  far,  one  man  with  two 
Chinese  assistants  has  proved  a sufficient 
staff  for  the  work,  but  the  time  has  now 
come  when  a stenographer  wdth  a knowl- 
edge of  bookkeeping  would  be  a welcome 
addition  in  the  treasurer’s  office. 

Now,  what  are  the  duties  of  the 
treasurer  and  his  assistants?  Before 
enumerating  some  of  these,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  state  that  the  China  mis- 
sion is  divided  into  two  districts,  each 
under  the  immediate  charge  of  its  own 
bishop.  These  districts  are  known  as 
Shanghai  and  Hankow,  the  names  of 
two  large  cities,  but  as  districts  covering 
an  area  of  over  1,000  miles  in  length. 

The  Distriet  of  Shanghai  comprises 
the  Provinee  of  Kiangsu.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  southern  part  of  it,  some 
20,000,000  in  number,  speak  the  Shang- 
hai dialect.  It  contains  the  city  of 
Shanghai,  in  which  there  are  three 
churches — Jessfield,  a suburb  of  Shang- 
hai, where  St.  John’s  University,  St. 
Mary’s  Hall,  the  St.  Mary’s  Orphanage, 
the  Gate  School  and  a dispensary  for 


MR.  SMALLEY  AND  HIS  CHINESE  ASSISTANTS  IN  THE  OFFICE  OF  THE  CHINA  MISSION 


the  surrounding  villages  have  been  lo- 
cated. It  is  an  admirable  site,  vrell 
chosen  for  the  important  -work  of  these 
institutions.  Soochow,  the  capital  of 
the  province,  Wusih,  the  centre  of  the 
silk  trade  of  this  neighborhood,  Zang- 
zok  and  Tsingpoo  and  many  smaller 
places  surrounding  them  are  the  centres 
of  work. 

The  District  of  Hankow  comprises 
the  Provinces  of  Anhui  and  Hupeh  and 
the  northern  portions  of  Kiangsi  and 
Hunan.  The  work  in  these  provinces 
has  Hankow,  Wuchang,  Wuhu,  Anking, 
Kiukiang,  Shasi,  Ichang  and  Changsha 
as  its  centres. 

Paying  Accounts 

The  centres  of  both  districts,  with 
their  outlying  groups  of  stations,  have 
their  own  accounts,  which  are  sent  to 
the  treasurer  every  month,  duly  vouched 
for  by  the  clergyman  in  charge.  These 
accounts,  after  being  closely  scrutinized, 
are  paid  by  the  treasurer. 

Salaries  are  paid  at  the  end  of  each 
month  by  checks  on  the  Hongkong  and 
Shanghai  Banking  Corporation.  The 
foreign  staff  in  the  Shanghai  District  at 
this  date  numbers  forty-one  and  in  the 
Hankow  District  thirty-seven,  a total  of 
seventy-eight  paid  workers.  A complete 
set  of  books  is  kept  for  each  district  en- 
titled “Appropriation  Account.”  Each 
district  has  also  a “Specials  Account,” 
which  comprises  the  building  funds  of 
each  station  and  all  “specials”  sent  out 
from  the  Church  Missions  House.  These 
“specials”  come  from  New  A^ork  by 
draft  for  a certain  number  of  gold  dol- 
lars, which  are  converted  into  the  local 
currency  at  the  bank  rate  for  the  day 
and  then  duly  credited  to  the  work  they 
are  intended  for.  In  the  case  of  “spe- 
cials” designated  for  particular  objects, 
the  treasurer  is  required  to  credit  them 
to  the  fund  for  which  they  are  intended. 
Such  “specials”  are  disbursed  only  on 
the  order  of  the  bishop,  and  must  be  ac- 
counted for  in  the  same  manner  as  sums 
received  under  the  appropriations.  In 


the  case  of  “specials”  given  for  use  at 
the  discretion  of  individuals,  the  treas- 
urer is  empowered  to  pay  them  without 
an  order  from  the  bishop. 

The  Statements  to  Indwiduals 

All  drafts  made  on  the  Board  in  New 
York  are  drawn  by  the  treasurer  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  Board’s  letters  of 
credit. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  in  Feb- 
ruary and  August  of  each  year  to  sub- 
mit to  each  of  the  persons  named  in  the 
Appropriation  Schedule  a statement  of 
his  or  her  account  in  Mexican  dollars, 
with  the  averaged  rate  showing  the  ex- 
change from  United  States  currency  to 
local  currency  for  the  half  year  or  year 
as  the  case  may  be.  The  treasurer  is 
also  required  to  submit  to  each  station 
treasurer  and  the  head  of  each  depart- 
ment a semi-annual  statement  of  his  sta- 
tion or  department  account. 

All  missionaries  and  heads  of  depart- 
ments desiring  payments  in  the  United 
States  to  be  made  from  their  salaries  or 
appropriations  must  fill  in  a form,  to  be 
obtained  from  any  station  treasurer. 
This  form  is  filled  out  in  duplicate  and 
sent  to  the  mission  treasurer  in  China. 
He  endorses  both  copies,  keeping  one  on 
file  and  returning  the  other  to  the  sender, 
who  may  then  forward  the  endorsed  or- 
der to  the  treasurer  at  the  Church  Mis- 
sions House  in  New  York,  who  pays  as 
directed. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  mission  treasurer 
on  receipt  of  United  States  charges  from 
the  Board,  which  is  done  at  least  once  a 
month,  to  notify  the  persons  concerned 
immediately  of  such  charge.  All  these 
charges  are  debited  to  the  i)ersons  at  the 
averaged  rate  from  the  previous  Septem- 
ber to  date  of  entry,  and  the  Board  of 
Missions  receives  credit  accordingly. 

Insurance  Policies^  Leases  and 
Title  Deeds 

The  treasurer  has  charge  of  all  fire  in- 
surance policies,  which  are  kept  in  the 
mission  safe,  and  all  premiums  are  paid 


by  him.  From  time  to  time  the  treas- 
urer submits  to  the  bishop  a list  of  ail 
properties  covered  by  insurance.  It  is 
the  duty  of  a missionary  who  erects  a 
new  building  to  furnish  the  treasurer 
with  a description  of  the  building,  stat- 
ing its  actual  cost,  its  location  and  other 
particulars.  The  treasurer  then  submits 
this  description  to  the  bishop,  who  de- 
cides whether  the  building  is  to  be  in- 
sured. As  a rule,  all  buildings  are  in- 
sured. 

All  land  deeds,  leases  and  like  docu- 
ments are  kept  in  the  treasurer’s  safe, 
but  deeds  belonging  to  the  Hankow 
District  are  kept  by  the  bishop  of  that 
district. 

The  bishops  decide  in  what  bank  or 
banks  mission  funds  shall  be  deposited. 
All  payments  are  made  as  far  as  is  pos- 
sible by  check.  No  mission  funds  are 
allowed  to  be  kept  by  the  treasurer,  sta- 
tion treasurers  or  any  person  holding 
moneys  belonging  to  the  mission  in  a 
private  bank  account. 

No  deed  or  valuable  document  that 
may  be  required  by  any  person  in  the 
mission  is  allowed  to  be  removed  from 
the  treasurer’s  office  unless  a written  re- 
ceipt is  handed  to  the  treasurer. 

T he  Treasurer  ami  the  Station 
T reasnrers 

The  bishop  appoints  the  station  treas- 
urers. Each  station  treasurer  is  empow- 
ered to  draw  upon  the  treasurer  monthly 
for  such  sums  as  he  has  expended  under 
the  headings  provided  for  in  the  annual 
Appropriation  Schedule.  As  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  monthly  expenditures  of  each 
station  are  not  to  exceed  one-twelfth  of 
the  annual  appropriation.  No  station 
treasurer  is  allowed  to  overdraw  his  sta- 
tion’s appropriation  without  the  written 
consent  of  the  bishop.  A sufficient  sum 
is  placed  in  the  hands  of  each  station 
treasurer  to  cover  his  monthly  expendi- 
tures, such  sum  being  kept  as  a pei'ma- 
nent  balance. 

A copy  of  the  appropriation  for  each 


station  is  sent  to  the  station  treasurer 
in  September  of  each  year.  The  treas- 
urer pays  one-twelfth  of  an  appropria- 
tion for  a hospital  or  boarding-school  to 
the  head  of  such  institution  at  the  end 
of  each  month. 

Auditing  the  Boohs 

The  treasurer’s  books  are  audited 
twice  a year.  The  bishops  appoint  the 
auditor,  an  experienced  accountant,  not 
a member  of  the  mission.  Statements 
of  accounts  are  forwarded  to  the  Board 
of  Missions,  bearing  the  auditor’s  and 
treasurer’s  signatures.  The  statements 
for  the  “Appropriation  Account”  show 
under  current  account  the  sources  of  all 
revenue,  and  the  total  payments.  The 
“Appropriation  Balance  Sheet”  shows 
the  appropriation  of  each  item  in  gold 
dollars  and  in  Mexicans,  with  the  rate 
of  exchange,  sundry  receipts,  total  re- 
ceipts, payments  made  for  the  first  half 
year  and  the  second  half  year  itemized, 
the  debit  and  credit  balances;  and  such 
other  detailed  statements  as  may  be 
necessary. 

In  the  statements  for  “specials,”  all 
sums  are  shown  that  have  been  received 
from  the  Board,  all  rents,  interests,  and 
so  forth,  and  how  the  moneys  have  been 
expended,  and  such  other  detailed  state- 
ments as  may  be  necessary. 

Anditing  the  Station  Accounts 

After  the  audit  in  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember is  finished  and  the  accounts  have 
been  forwarded  in  duplicate  to  the 
Board  in  New  York,  the  treasurer  pro- 
ceeds to  visit  each  station  and  institu- 
tion and  audits  the  books  of  each  station 
treasurer  and  institution. 

Preparing  the  Estimates 

In  January  of  each  year  the  bishop 
receives  from  each  station  an  estimate 
of  what  money  is  required  for  the  ex- 
penditure of  that  station  during  the  year 
beginning  with  the  next  September. 


When  the  estimates  are  received,  the 
bishop,  assisted  by  the  treasurer,  pre- 
pares an  estimate  of  appropriations  for 
the  whole  district.  This  is  sent  to  the 
Board  of  Missions  in  New  York.  There 
it  is  printed  and  circulated  among  the 
members  of  the  Committee  on  China, 
and  in  the  month  of  May  so  much  of 
the  amount  asked  for  is  granted  as  the 
Board  feels  it  can  guarantee.  A sigh 
of  relief  is  frequently  given  by  the  bish- 
ops and  heads  of  stations  when  news  ar- 
rives from  the  Board  that  the  appropria- 
tions have  been  voted. 

As  a rule,  the  missionary  residing  in 
the  comparative  quiet  of  his  one  station, 
removed  from  all  the  bustle  and  worry 
of  the  mission  centres,  can  hardly  ap- 
preciate the  thought,  care  and  responsi- 
bility his  bishop  undergoes  before  the 
appropriations  are  granted.  From  his 
point  of  view,  his  own  particular  station 
is  the  all-important  work,  his  station  the 
one  that  should  be  developed,  his  needs 
the  greatest.  The  wise  bishop  has  to 
preserve  the  equilibrium.  He  sees  the 
needs  of  the  work  not  from  a station 
point  of  view,  but  from  the  standpoint 
of  head  of  the  mission. 

The  poet  who  wrote  “Uneasy  lies  the 
head  that  wears  a crown”  might  with 
truth  have  had  a missionary  bishop  in 
mind.  The  demands  made  upon  the 
bishop  for  funds  are  seldom  refused : he 
does  his  best  by  writing  or  telling  the 
Church  at  home  of  the  needs  of  each 
station;  and  to  the  glory  of  the  home 
churches  be  it  said  the  answer  is  oftener 
in  the  affirmative  than  in  the  negative. 

A Few  Other  Duties 

The  mission  treasurer  also  acts  as 
.treasurer  for  St.  John’s  University,  St. 
Mary’s  Hall  and  St.  Luke’s  Hospital. 
These  institutions,  besides  their  appro- 
priations from  the  Board,  have  incomes 
from  various  sources.  These  all  have  to 
be  collected  and.  accounted  for,  and  all 
pass  through  the  office  of  the  treasurer. 
Separate  hooks  are  kept  for  each  of  these 
institutions,  and  a system  has  been  de- 


vised which  meets  with  the  full  approval 
of  the  auditor.  All  receipts  are  entered 
and  vouched  for  by  the  head  of  each  in- 
stitution and  no  account  is  paid  until 
the  same  authority  gives  a written  order 
for  the  disbursement. 

Another  duty  that  falls  to  the  lot  of 
the  treasurer  is  to  receive  all  freight 
from  home  for  the  out-stations.  Often 
he  has  to  bear  the  brunt  of  damaged 
goods,  insufficiently  packed,  and  of  de- 
lays caused  by  overdue  steamers.  It  is 
his  duty  to  meet  old  and  newcomers,  to 
arrange  for  their  baggage,  for  their 
comfort  in  Shanghai,  for  their  passages 
to  their  stations,  to  receive  their  “Road 
Accounts,”  and,  in  the  case  of  new- 
comers, to  help  them  in  buying  such 
furniture  as  they  may  require. 

B usiness  Management  and  Success 

From  years’  experience  it  has  been 
found  that  the  more  business-like  the 
management  of  a mission  becomes  the 
greater  its  successes  are.  Good  manage- 
ment means  economy;  economy  brings 
confidence,  and  confidence,  success. 
Good  business  methods  inspire  the  Chi- 
nese and  help  them  to  feel  that  the 
Church  has  come  to  stay,  that  this  new 
religion  is  stable,  not  like  a mushroom, 
here  to-day  and  away  to-morrow.  Well- 
planned,  honestly-managed  missions, 
aided  by  the  prayers  of  those  at  home 
and  abroad,  under  God’s  providence 
have  become  successful  and  a blessing 
to  many  thousands  in  this  populous 
empire. 

It  may  he  fairly  said  that  the  average 
business  man,  if  he  were  to  visit  China, 
would,  after  examining  the  work  of  mis- 
sionaries carefully  and  intelligently,  re- 
port and  proclaim  that  missions  in 
China  are  undoubtedly  successful.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  business  man 
visits  China,  and,  without  examining  for 
himself,  rests  content  with  listening  to 
the  talk  which  has  been  called  “steam- 
boat theology,”  he  will  return  to  his 
homeland  with  hut  a poor  opinion  of 
missions. 


The  work  of  the  American  Church  on  behalf  of  the  Chinese  was 
begun  in  1837  in  South  China.  In  1844  the  headquarters  of  the 
mission  were  transferred  to  Shanghai.  The  work  is  now  en- 
tirely in  the  \ angtse  Valley  extending  from  the  sea  coast  about 
a thousand  miles  west  and  about  a hundred  and  fifty  miles  on  each  side 
of  the  river.  This  section  has  a population  of  about  120,000,000.  The 
original  Missionary  District  of  Shanghai  was  divided  in  1901  by  the 
setting  off  of  the  District  of  Hankow. 

The  Bishop  of  Shanghai  is  the  Right  Rev.  F.  R.  Graves,  D.D.,  conse- 
crated in  1893.  The  Bishop  of  Hankow  is  the  Right  Rev.  Logan  H. 
Roots,  D.D.,  consecrated  in  1904. 

The  former  American  Bishops  in  China  were : 

The  Right  Rev.  William  Jones  Boone,  D.D.,  consecrated  1844,  died 
1864. 

The  Right  Rev.  Channing  Moore  Williams,  D.D.,  consecrated  1866. 
In  1874  he  became  Bishop  of  Vedo,  Japan.  He  resigned  in  1889,  but 
still  works  in  Kyoto. 

The  Right  Rev.  Samuel  Isaac  Joseph  Schereschewsky,  D.D.,  conse- 
crated 1877,  resigned  1883,  died  1906. 

The  Right  Rev.  William  Jones  Boone,  D.D.,  consecrated  1884, 
died  1891. 

The  Right  Rev.  James  Addison  Ingle,  first  Bishop  of  Hankow, 
consecrated  1902,  died  1903. 

The  Church’s  staff  in  the  two  districts  includes  in  addition  to  the 
bishops,  25  foreign  clergymen,  11  foreign  physicians,  54  foreign  teachers 
and  other  helpers,  28  Chinese  clergyanen  and  274  Chinese  catechists, 
teachers  and  other  helpers. 

There  are  8 hospitals  which  oared  last  year  for  100,127  patients,  17 
boarding  schools  with  1,201  pupils,  73  day  schools  with  1,992  pupils. 

Work  is  maintained  in  89  different  stations. 

The  Church  of  England  has  six  dioceses  in  northern,  western  and 
southern  China. 


^ Copies  of  this  Leaflet  may  be  obtained  from  the  Corresponding 
Secretary,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York,  by  asking  for  Leaflet  No. 
258. 

^ All  offerings  for  Missions  in  China  should  be  sent  to  George  C. 
Thomas,  Treasurer,  281  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 


III.  Edition,  February,  1909.  S.P.  (2M.) 


